Countryfile Photographic Competition: Rules

1) The subject for the BBC Countryfile Photographic Competition 2010 is "A Moment of Magic". The theme is open to individual interpretation, but photos should capture a magical moment which makes the rest of us wish we'd been there to see it. Entries must have the countryside or natural world at their heart. Photographs can feature landscapes, people, farm animals, British wildlife (plants and animals) or activities. Photographs of domestic animals, i.e. pets, and cultivated plants are not eligible. Images of British wildlife in captivity must be declared as such. The BBC's decision as to the eligibility of individual photographs will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

2) Photographs entered must be taken in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

3) Entrants can submit up to four photos as prints, in colour or black and white. Only one photo by any individual entrant can be included in the final shortlist. Electronic images cannot be accepted.

4) Images may be digitally enhanced to remove spots or scratches, but not manipulated. Entrants can enhance the picture to make it brighter, clearer etc, but not manipulate the content. BBC Countryfile and the judges reserve the right to exclude any image they believe may have been excessively treated so as to alter its authenticity.

5) The competition is open to UK residents only (including residents of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man). Employees of BBC Worldwide or the BBC, as well as their immediate families, are not eligible to enter. Entrants under the age of 12 years need to have parent or guardian consent to enter.

6) Entrants must not be professional photographers and, for the purposes of this competition, a professional photographer will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their photographs.

7) Each entry should be marked with name, address, contact telephone number (both daytime and evening) and where the photo was taken.

8) The BBC will only ever use personal details for the purposes of administering the scheme. Please see the BBC's Privacy Policy.

10) The competition closes at midnight on Friday 27 August, 2010. Entries received after this date will not be considered.

The BBC cannot accept any responsibility for any problem with the postal service which may result in any entry being lost or delayed. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.

Entries will not be returned, so please remember to keep a copy. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted and no feedback on any entry will be provided.

11) All photographs will be judged on the following criteria:

Composition

Technical ability

Originality

Interpretation of this year's theme

Commercial appeal

12) The photographs will be judged through the following process:

• Stage One
A judging panel comprised of previous winners of the Countryfile photographic competition will review all entries and select a long-list of approximately 3,000 photographs, based on the above criteria.

• Stage Two
A second panel of judges will then review all the entries on the long-list and select a shortlist of 12 entries based on the above criteria. The panel will also select their overall favourite.

Each of the shortlisted entrants will be contacted by a member of the BBC production team within a week of judging, which is scheduled for 1 September 2010.

If after reasonable attempts a shortlisted entrant cannot be contacted, the BBC reserves the right to offer the place on the shortlist to the next best entry.

• Stage Three: The Public Vote
All 12 shortlisted entries will be featured on the Countryfile programme on BBC One, and the audience will be asked to vote for their favourite. The winner will be the entry which receives the most votes. For the full terms and conditions of the public telephone vote, please click here.

13) The prize will consist of £1,000 worth of photography vouchers from an outlet selected by the winner. The entry selected as the overall favourite by the judges will also receive £500 worth of photography vouchers from an outlet selected by the entrant. The prizes are as stated and cannot be deferred or transferred. There will be no cash alternatives.

14) The finalists, together with a further fourteen photographs to be selected from the entrants by the judges and/or the BBC, will appear in the Countryfile Calendar 2011, to be sold in aid of the BBC Children in Need Appeal. The finalists may also be published in the BBC Countryfile Magazine.

15) In the event of a technical problem or evidence of impropriety with regard to the viewers' vote, the judges shall have the final decision. If the viewers' vote results in a tie, the judges shall have the casting vote. The judges' decisions will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.

16) All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. The entrants must be the sole owner of copyright in all photographs entered and must have obtained permission of any people featured in the entries, or their parents/guardians if children under 16 are featured. Further, entrants must not have breached any laws when taking their photographs.

17) Prior to submission, entrants must not have offered any of their entries for sale, been paid for any publication of any of their entries, or won or been a runner- up in any other photographic competition with any of their entries.

18) Entrants will retain copyright in the photographs that they submit to the BBC. By entering the competition, all entrants grant to the BBC the right to publish and exhibit their photographs on television and on the BBC’s website. Entrants whose photographs are one of the finalists or selected to appear in the Countryfile Calendar 2011 pursuant to paragraph 11 above grant to the BBC (including BBC Worldwide and other publishers authorised by the BBC) the further rights to publish and exhibit their photographs in print, on their respective websites or in any other media. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses. Entrants whose photographs are one of the finalists also agree to take part in post-competition publicity. While we make every effort to credit photographers, including in printed reproductions of their work, we cannot guarantee that every broadcast use of the photographs will include the photographers' names.

19) By entering, entrants will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by these rules and the BBC reserves the right to exclude any entry from the competition at any time and in its absolute discretion if the BBC has reason to believe that an entrant has breached these rules.

20) The BBC reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.

21) If the winner is unable to be contacted after reasonable attempts have been made, the BBC reserves the right to either offer the prize to a runner-up or to re-offer the prize in any future competition.

22) These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales. This competition is administered by the BBC.

The public telephone vote

Voting is by telephone only. The numbers for the contestant are those indicated on this page.

Vote lines are opened and closed at the times specified. Please do not call before the lines open or after the lines have closed as your vote will not be counted, but you may still be charged. Please be aware voting times may change.

Each phone vote costs 15p from a BT landline, Other networks may vary. Calls from mobiles will be considerably higher.

* The above details are provided for indicative purpose only. Information provided by mobile network operators 13/09/2010. For up to date information it is always advisable to check direct with your network operator.

Terms and conditions

Voters must obtain permission from the bill payer before voting, and phone voters under the age of 12 should obtain parent/guardian consent before voting. Make sure you carefully dial only the number of the contestant/s you wish to vote for.

Votes are only open to individuals as consumers calling from the UK, and not to any agencies, businesses and/or companies.

The BBC reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any deliberate attempt to manipulate the result. The BBC can only guarantee that votes individually entered directly through the telephone numbers promoted on the show will count.

For purpose of verifying any claim for refunds (where offered) or investigating possible voting irregularities, the BBC may need to request the network operator to disclose the telephone number that you are voting from. Please note that this will still be required where you have originally opted not to disclose your telephone number (caller’s line identification barring). If you do not agree to this, you should not vote.

Where such investigations are required, the BBC will only ever use your telephone number for the purposes of processing refunds or investigating possible voting irregularities and will not publish or provide it to anyone without permission, except where required for enforcement of these terms. You can read more about the BBC Privacy Policy here.

The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for: (i) any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded; and (ii) any contestant leaving the competition for any reason.

In the event of any problem with the telephone vote, the BBC reserves the right to revert to a contingency plan, which may include the decision lying with a panel.

Please note that you cannot vote by email, red button, text or via this website.

BBC links

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